Legends Exhibition

Purpose

During the Showa era, the Gojozaka and Chawanzaka area was home to a dense community of Nitten and Japan Kogei Association artists, generations-old pottery studios, and highly skilled craftspeople who led Kyoto’s ceramics industry.

Another defining feature was the many different kinds of work being made side by side in the same area. Works that explored the techniques their makers excelled in, alongside those that proposed new values, have both earned high recognition in the history of ceramics.

Individual ceramic artists’ works and activities have been introduced before. This project focuses on the Gojo area during particular periods, looking at the ceramic artists who were active there and the works they made. Dividing the Showa era into several periods, we explore who was active and what they created in each, as well as their influences on one another and their relationships.

The Showa era also saw the resumption of submissions to Nitten, an increase in open-call exhibitions, the establishment of the Japan Kogei Association, and the formation of Sodeisha. New approaches to ceramics and new works emerged, laying the foundations for ceramics today. By also interviewing relatives and others who experienced this important era at close hand, we aim to share a fresh history of ceramics as seen from this area.

As the Showa era had several turning points, we will introduce its history in a series organized by period.